Newcastle City Council Planning Committee has granted planning permission for delivery of a luxury hotel and rooftop swimming pool as well as terraces, bars and restaurants, located on the south-western end of Grey Street, Mosley Street and extends to the Cloth Market.

Space Architects, worked closely with the developer, the Malhotra Group and the City Council throughout the planning application process, agreeing on principals ahead of submission.

The proposed development site sits within the Central Newcastle Conservation Area and contains six designated listed buildings which are either Grade 2* or Grade 2, all of which will be refurbished and re-purposed in a sensitive manner to respect the building’s heritage and suit the new uses proposed.

In addition to the listed buildings on site, there are two further buildings from the 1930s & 50s which are not listed. These are proposed to be replaced with architecture that responds to the specific street context, has regard to the proportions and character of the adjacent buildings, whilst at the same time being unashamedly contemporary in their design.

Within the heart of the development, a new glazed atrium is to be formed to the rear of Grey Street, to provide vertical circulation and help link the ground floor hotel lounge to the upper levels and roof terraces.

Hotel bedrooms and suites are to be located on the upper floors across much of the development and are to be connected via bridge links, which will span across a pedestrian lane.

David Coundon, Director at Space Architects, said:“It is thoroughly rewarding to be given the opportunity to restore these historic buildings back to their original beauty whilst also remodelling them in order to create a sustainable leisure destination fit for the 21st Century.

“This development will reinvigorate a whole section of the city and create a place that can nurture, entertain and inspire people; a place that can champion cultural life and a place that meets the client’s and city's ambitions for regeneration and growth.”

The Grey Street development is one of several recent heritage projects that Space Architects have been involved with, including the recently completed Globe theatre in Stockton on Tees.

Chris Holmes, Director at Space Architects, commented:“We have worked very closely with the Planning & Conservation Teams within the council, to help provide proposals & strategies that will look to sensitively restore and creatively re-use these prominent listed buildings.

Many of these fantastic buildings have laid empty for years, but this development will help preserve their status, bringing them back into use and ensuring their long-term viability”.

Space Architects have been working alongside consultants Lichfield, Cundall and WYG to help deliver the Grey Street project.